Dichotomy Of God In The Old Testament

An increasingly common phenomenon in the church today, particularly in more liberal streams of Christianity, is the privileging of one attribute of God over another. Perhaps the most frequent example of this is the privileging of God's love over his justice. Those who fall prey to this dichotomy draw a distinction between God in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, God is viewed as a being of wrath who mercilessly executes judgment on the pagan and sinner. In the New Testament, however, with the coming of Christ, God is seen as more benevolent, loving, and gracious to the sinner.

Those who espouse this view hold up the actions of Jesus toward a variety of sinners: the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, Zacchaeus, and more. They argue that Jesus was far more interested in showing love, forgiveness, and grace than wrath and judgment. They believe rightly that “God loves you just the way you

are,” but they forget that he does not wish for someone to stay that way (as evidenced by his frequent exhortations to “go and sin no more”). In their minds, the coming of Jesus somehow represents a “softening” of God’s wrath from the Old Testament. In many ways, they are repeating the error of Marcion the heretic, who believed that the vengeful God of the Old Testament was somehow inferior to the gracious and loving God of the New.

There is a strong likelihood that today’s inordinate emphasis of God’s love over his justice is a reaction to the fundamentalist movement of the mid-to-late 20th century, a time when mainstream society often felt that the “religious right” was forcing Christian morality down their collective throats. It was not uncommon for a well-meaning Christian of this time period to not-so-lovingly remind the non-Christian of the judgment and wrath that awaited them after death if they did not repent. At that time, it was God’s justice that was emphasized at the expense of his love and grace. Today, the pendulum has clearly swung to the other extreme.

Speaking of the tension between life and theology, Kapic states, “Attempting to separate life and theology is to lose the beauty and truthfulness of both.”1 In other words, “life and theology” is not an either/or proposition.

There is a reciprocal and symbiotic relationship between the two. Each is dependent on the other for its proper functioning. In the same way, in the case of privileging the love or justice of God, Kapic would likely point out that there must instead be reciprocation between the two of them. God is not either loving or wrathful; gracious or just; merciful or holy. He is all these things, in perfect measure, and at all times. In fact, the perfect justice of God informs his lovingkindness, and his love tempers his justice and wrath. Once again, Kapic echoes this reality when stating, “We tend to choose between the Lord’s grandeur or his mercy, but we must consistently resist this choice. Simply put, a faithful theologian is someone who – like the psalmist – knows that God’s glory is gracious and that his grace is

glorious.”2

It would be a tragic mistake to rejoice in the love of God and yet not tremble at his justice and wrath. Moreover, to only focus on his holiness and judgment would be to miss the beauty of his compassion and grace. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. Acknowledging, accepting, and appreciating all his attributes is essential to painting an accurate picture of him